Snakes on a Plain!

Here is the trail in to 49 Palms, an oasis on the north edge of the Joshua Tree National Park. The hike is around 3 miles, with a 300-foot elevation gain and drop each way. I left my car around 6:00 PM to miss the daytime heat. The sun was setting behind me as I set out and the trail was easy, although I stopped every few minutes to rehydrate in the shade. I was thinking about how I wished I could walk silently like Native hunters were said to do, so I might see more wildlife. Rocks and larger boulders everywhere, positively Biblical, beautiful and relaxing... Until.

That buzzing, vibrating, rattling sound registered immediately. I froze, calculating that the sound was at least 10 feet away, so no attack eminent. Before I realized what I was doing, I found myself slowly backing up the trail behind me. I saw him then, winding toward me, but he didn't seem too committed about it. I kept going until I was about 20 feet away and commenced firing.

I hoped the rocks would send him on his way so I could continue down the trail. After a while he crossed the path and I didn't hear any response to my launches. It took a while to see him when I passed, since he hadn't gone as far off the trail as I'd hoped, but he seemed settled there so I took the time to photograph him.

The rest of the hike you can bet my feet made as much noise as possible.

I've seen rattlers a few times before, mostly as a kid, and don't really remember it. This confrontation, alone on the trail, is a memory that will stick around for a while!

Approaching 49 Palms at dusk.

Here's the view back down the valley (north) to the town of 29 Palms in the distance.

Here is where two of the other artists are staying, Wendy and Lola, north of the 29 Palms Highway near Pioneer Town. Wendy sleeps in the cute little trailer, and they both work in the cabin and a separate studio.

Below is the studio, where Lola's quail mask is progressing nicely.

Credit to Susan Lowe for the blog title today.

Rain and Noah Purifoy

Rain arrived, with lightning and thunder, many spot drops like this one, all over the landscape. Some fell on me, and then I watched the fronts pass me to the north.

Last night we visited the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum of Assemblage Sculpture, in Joshua Tree town. Noah was an artist who moved from LA to Joshua Tree in 1989. In 13 years he filled a 10-acre landscape with sculptures. His public art is known locally, nationally and internationally. Check it out! Here are some of my favorites.

Busy Busy

This ant's nest is right outside my back door. I got a giggle from the little guys with sticks. They remind me of the dogs on America's Funniest Videos, holding a stick crosswise and trying to get through a door .

We artists got a good writeup last week in the Hi-Desert Star LINK HERE by Rebecca Unger, who had attended the Artist Presentations and interviewed each of us. As mentioned in the article, we will have a one-day art exhibit at the Joshua Tree Art Gallery (JTAG) on Saturday, August 20. It will open at 9:00 AM in conjunction with the Farmer's Market outside, and the artists reception will be that evening from 6-9 PM.

They Just Keep On Coming

So here's what came to visit last night! This scorpion came scuttling up to the screen door, right under the patio light. The shot of the nickel came this morning after he was long gone.

I was admittedly a little twitchy last night on the patio after dark, remembering the huge beetle that showed up the night before (see "Monster Attack"). I've since found some images online to suggest it was a Paloverde Root Borer, one of the largest beetles in North America. Adults can be 6-8 inches long, and may come out in the summer time, especially in the early evening when attracted by outside lighting.

Monster Attack!

Yee gawds. Suffice it to say, my foot, and the beetle shown above, were not taken in the same exposure! I recreated the shot later to demonstrate scale. And I did not plan to take a photo of the beetle about to take off, either! You should have heard the sounds I made when it elevated itself just as I depressed the camera button.

The saga started while I was sitting just outside my screen door on the side patio, watching a video. Loud rattling of wings in the bushes behind me, but I saw nothing when I turned around. Then I heard it over my head, but again, saw nothing when I looked up. I went inside to freshen my drink and just as I came back and opened the screen door, this rhino-type black monster beetled itself across my path on the cement steps.

Several stages ensued, me watching from inside through the screen door as he went back and forth, around and around, on the ground. I'd start to come out to take a photo and then he'd head my way and I'd slam the screen shut again. There are lots of unusable shots on my camera, but only one came out sterling... see above!

Here's what I'm calling the cave painting, close to completion.

Here are a number of canvases in progress, 12x24, that I expect to hang in triptychs, various combinations of rocks/lichen/desert plants and textures.

Hard at Work

I have no images for this post. Right now, I'm using all my energies composing paintings, throwing things on the canvas, and stretching new ones. It's going well, one big one and 3-4 smaller pieces are in various stages of layering. Since I use transparent colors, I work in a similar fashion to watercolors, except that I have a lot more leeway for errors (serendipitous discoveries, please!). But I love the way complementary colors build up to neutrals, while keeping the vibrancy and uniqueness of each color in the mix.

Cross-Park Expedition

Yesterday I drove entirely through the Park, from the NW area of Joshua Trees and boulders down to the SE areas of ocotilla, chollo cactus and Cottonwood Springs (above and below). The sky was almost entirely clouded over, and I drank a gallon of water, but the heat was still more than I could take for more than a mile or two of hiking.

This lizard has beautiful pale, delicate markings to blend in, and looks so silly when it runs, with hind end up in the air and tail curved overhead like a scorpion.

The Cholla Cactus Garden is one place you wouldn't want to run amok. Their dead lower parts are as beautiful as the creamy top spines.

Spiny balls fall off the cactus plants and spread about in the wind. It's Trouble with Tribbles in the desert.

Erosion does fascinating things, like this row of fossil teeth. No, it's all rock, but I do think of mastodon dentures...

This would be my first choice of campsites.

Pretty, but don't touch. Can you imagine being in charge of small children in this environment?

This morning two ground squirrels were darting about outside my bathroom window. This guy was ready to take me on.

Now it's back to the studio for me, try to do something brilliant today.